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Mad Lib Mitt

The rightward trek of Mitt Romney has been the Manifest Destiny of the GOP campaign. The more Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich hoard the evangelical and ultra-conservative vote, the more pundits and politicos say that Romney has no choice but to continue shuffling away from his past policy positions to make himself look more appetizing to “the base.” Last night’s third-place finishes in Alabama and Mississippi did nothing to change the conventional wisdom. Romney will clearly have to pick a vice-presidential nominee who satiates the hard right. But the idea that Romney is left with no choice but to shed his remaining moderate cred to appease the far right may prove to be as overblown as the fear (or, in some circles, joyous anticipation) of a contested convention. It’s easy to forget amid the nonstop national coverage, but GOP primary voters aren’t the whole Republican Party (nor, of course, do they resemble most Republican-leaning independents). Prior to yesterday, only 11.5 percent of the party had voted so far. Romney, for all the flaws in his campaign, has been wily about one big thing: He hasn’t taken many bold conservative stands, or detailed and coherent stands of any kind, on major policy issues. As Benjy Sarlin pointed out yesterday at Talking Points Memo, Romney’s platform has a Mad Libs-esque charm: On entitlements, on the economy, on taxes, on foreign policy, he’s left plenty of blanks to fill in for the fall. Which is yet another reason that Democrats shouldn’t be celebrating prematurely. A moderate-but-still-conservative-enough version of Romney could still be in the cards.

So They Say

“Whoever said that should be flogged.”

—Gingrich spokesperson R.C. Hammond, who toldThe Wall Street Journal last week that Gingrich had to win both Alabama and Mississippi to stay afloat.

Daily Meme: La Plus Ca Change

March 6, Gingrich: “We are going to go on to Tampa and win the nomination.”

March 13, Gingrich: “We're going to leave Alabama and Mississippi with a substantial number of delegates, increasing our total going towards Tampa."

Comments

No, other than endorsing the Ryan Medicare-killing healthcare plan, proposing a tax cut that reduces the top earners' bracket by 5% and raises the deficit by 20%, advocating "self-deportation" for undocumented workers, endorsing employers' right to refuse to pay for healthcare benefits to which they have "moral objections," advocating the end of Federal support for women's health care services, and advocating war with Iran, I wouldn't say he's taken many "bold conservative stands" either.